Ceylon Sapphires Worldwide
Natural Ceylon sapphires, bought at source in Sri Lanka and delivered to mainland China and Hong Kong insured, with the laboratory report in the parcel. We correspond in English, by email.
Chinese buyers are no strangers to Ratnapura. Walk through the morning market there and you will hear Mandarin at the tables alongside Sinhala and Tamil, because China has become one of the largest buyers of Sri Lankan coloured stones over the past fifteen years. Blue sapphire is what those buyers come for first, and increasingly the pink, the yellow and the padparadscha as well. You will see it called a Sri Lankan sapphire in China as often as a Ceylon sapphire; the two names mean the same island.
Crestonne sells the same stones to the same standard, without the trip, to anyone who wants a natural Ceylon sapphire in China, on the mainland or in Hong Kong. We live and buy in Sri Lanka, select each sapphire in person, have it certified by an independent laboratory, and ship it to China with free insured delivery. The listing shows the stone in 360, with its measurements, its treatment and its report number, in plain English.
In the collection now
Every stone below is natural, independently certified and priced in US dollars with insured delivery included. Open one to see it in 360 and read its report number.
UnheatedColourless White Sapphire - 2.06ct Cushion Cut - Natural Ceylon Sapphire2.06 ct · 8.61 × 5.34 × 4.9 mm$1,200
UnheatedVivid Blue Sapphire - 0.73ct Cushion Cut - Natural Ceylon Sapphire0.73 ct · 5.04 × 5 × 3.39 mm$800
Purplish Pink Sapphire - 0.22ct Emerald Cut - Heated Natural Ceylon Sapphire0.22 ct · 3.5 × 3.2 × 2.1 mm$400$250Save 38%
Vivid Blue Sapphire - 1.02ct Cushion Cut - Heated Natural Ceylon Sapphire1.02 ct · 6.2 × 5.6 × 3.9 mm$1,050The market
Shenzhen is the centre of the Chinese jewellery trade. The Shuibei district alone houses thousands of jewellery businesses, and a great deal of the coloured stone set in China passes through it. Designers and small workshops there buy loose stones for commissions and for their own lines, and when they buy a Ceylon sapphire in China rather than at source, the Shuibei trader’s margin is in the price. Either way they want what any working jeweller wants: exact measurements, honest footage and paperwork that clears customs.
Shanghai and Beijing are the private buyers’ cities: engagement rings, gifts, and the collector’s unheated stone. Premium sapphires in China have usually come through Hong Kong or Bangkok before they reach a counter there, with a margin at each stop. Hong Kong, a free port with no duty on gemstones and a long history in the coloured stone trade, is where some mainland buyers prefer to take delivery, and we ship there as readily as anywhere.
A word on practicalities. WhatsApp, which most of our buyers use, is not reliably reachable from mainland China, so email is the better first contact from there. It reaches the same person and gets the same answer. The site, the listings and the reports are in English, and so is our correspondence.
Provenance is easy to answer for a Ceylon stone. Sri Lankan mining is small-scale and licensed, the districts are named, and an independent laboratory confirms the origin on the report. How we buy, and from whom, is set out on our story page.
What we sell
The stone Sri Lanka is known for: a medium, bright blue with a hint of violet, from soft cornflower to a saturated royal blue. Most of what we sell is this stone, in sizes from under a carat upwards.
The pink-orange sapphire found almost nowhere but Sri Lanka, and the rarest colour we handle. Genuine, certified stones are scarce; we list one when we have one and source to order when we do not.
The same gravels give pink, yellow, white and the occasional teal. Yellow Ceylon sapphire in particular is bought both for jewellery and, in many South Asian families, for tradition.
Heating is the trade’s normal finish, and a heated Ceylon sapphire is a fine, legitimate stone. An unheated one is scarcer and costs roughly two to five times as much. We sell both and state which is which on every listing, confirmed on the report.
From the same pits as the sapphires: cobalt blue, hot pink, red, lavender and grey. Rarely treated at all, and still quietly undervalued.
If nothing listed is right, tell us the colour, carat, cut and budget. We search our network in Sri Lanka and bring back certified options, with no fee and no obligation.
Paperwork
Every stone we sell carries a report from an independent laboratory, TGL (a GIA-alumni laboratory), Guild or GIC, stating what the stone is, whether it has been heated, and where it came from. The report number is published on the listing, so you can check it with the laboratory before you write to us.
Before the parcel leaves Sri Lanka, the National Gem and Jewellery Authority and Sri Lanka Customs inspect the stone and seal it, and the export papers carry your name and address. The original report travels inside the parcel, and the export papers are what your own customs will want to see.
How to read a sapphire certificate →Delivery and duties
Shipping is free, and every parcel is insured and tracked from Colombo to your door, on the mainland or in Hong Kong. A stone normally arrives seven to ten business days after we dispatch it; clearance on the mainland can take a little longer, so allow for it. Before it leaves, the National Gem and Jewellery Authority and Sri Lanka Customs inspect the stone and seal the parcel, and the original laboratory report travels inside it.
You are the importer. A loose gemstone entering mainland China pays import duty and value added tax (VAT), currently 13 per cent, and may attract consumption tax as well depending on its classification; the combined figure changes with the heading the parcel is entered under, so confirm it with China Customs or a customs broker before you buy. Hong Kong charges no duty and no sales tax on gemstones.
Prices are in US dollars. You pay by bank transfer, or another method we agree with you in writing; an international transfer from mainland China can take more paperwork at your bank than elsewhere, so allow for that too. We dispatch once the payment has cleared. If the stone is not right when it arrives, tell us within 14 days and send it back insured and tracked for a full refund of the price.
China is two and a half hours ahead of Sri Lanka, so our working days almost entirely overlap. We reply personally, by email, within two business days.
Why Crestonne
We buy at the pits and markets of Sri Lanka, in person, from the small-scale miners and cutters we know. No middlemen between Ratnapura and your door, so you pay for the sapphire, not its journey.
The founder picks and grades every stone himself, and rejects far more than ever get listed. If it is on the site, it earned its place.
Shipping is free. Every parcel is insured and tracked from Colombo until it is in your hands, and the laboratory report travels inside it.
Tell us within 14 days of delivery, from any country, and send the stone back insured and tracked for a full refund of the price. No reason needed.
Questions
The practical questions: delivery, duties, payment and what arrives in the parcel. Everything about the stones themselves is answered on the FAQ page.
All questions, answered →Yes, to mainland China and to Hong Kong. Pick a stone from the collection or send us a brief by email, and we confirm it is available and settle the details with you personally. It leaves Sri Lanka insured and tracked, with its laboratory report, and reaches you in about two weeks, a little longer if mainland clearance is slow.
Import duty and VAT at 13 per cent, and possibly consumption tax, depending on how the parcel is classified. You are the importer, so these are yours to pay, and the combined figure changes with the customs heading, so confirm it with China Customs or a broker before you buy. Hong Kong charges no duty and no sales tax on gemstones.
By email. WhatsApp is not reliably reachable from mainland China, so write to us through the contact page instead; it reaches the same person and gets the same answer, in English, within two business days.
Contact us →Seven to ten business days after dispatch, as a rule, and we dispatch once your payment has cleared and the export inspection in Sri Lanka is done. Clearance on the mainland can add a few days. You get the tracking number as soon as the parcel leaves.
Yes. We ship to Hong Kong as readily as anywhere, and it charges no duty and no sales tax on gemstones. Give us the Hong Kong delivery address and name when you order; the export papers from Sri Lanka carry both, so they need to be right.
Yes. The report comes from an independent laboratory, TGL, Guild or GIC, in English, and its number is published on the listing so you can check it with the laboratory before you buy. The original travels inside the parcel with the stone.
Before you buy
Buying Guides14 min read
Ceylon sapphire prices span a wide range in 2026. Here is the realistic price per carat by size, treatment, and certification, plus the red flags that signal a stone is priced too low to be genuine.
Understanding9 min read
A GIA sapphire report confirms what a stone is, how it has been treated, and in many cases where it came from. Here is a field-by-field walkthrough, plus the red flags to watch for when a report arrives with a stone.
Understanding10 min read
Heat treatment is the single biggest price lever in the sapphire market. Here is exactly what it does to the stone, and when paying the unheated premium is worth it.
Tell us the colour, carat and budget, and where in China it is going. We search our network in Sri Lanka and bring you certified options, with no obligation to buy.
Request a Custom StoneNew stones and guides, straight from the source. Written rarely, and only when there is something worth saying.